A 19-year-old gymnast, who sustained a left brachial plexus injury, regained near-normal movement in five months after undergoing surgery at the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital (TNGMSSH). Doctors of the Department of Hand and Reconstructive Microsurgery of the hospital performed neurolysis and nerve transfer that was followed by physiotherapy to help him regain full range of motion.
Arumuga Kamalesh, a resident of Madurai, was a State-level gymnastic champion. He sustained a shoulder dislocation during practice in November 2020. Though his coach had reduced the dislocation, he again suffered a dislocation while carrying a pot of water, R. Sridhar, associate professor of the department, said.
Surgery went wrong
He sought treatment at a private hospital where an arthroscopy surgery was performed. “He had sustained nerve injury during the shoulder dislocation. The surgery worsened it. He had a brachial plexus injury. Three nerves in the neck and thoracic spine segment were affected and two were functional. He took up physiotherapy and exercises for eight months but his condition did not improve,” he said.
In August 2021, he came to TNGMSSH where doctors evaluated him and suggested surgery. A surgery for nerve transfer was performed on September 1. “We performed neurolysis and nerve transfer (Oberlin I and Somsak procedure) in which we joined the branches of the two functioning nerves to the three affected nerves,” he said.
There was significant improvement post-surgery, he said. “He followed up on physiotherapy and exercises, and in five months has regained near normal movement. We have advised him to go slowly and not to be hasty, and take up graded exercises,” Dr. Sridhar said.
On follow-up, doctors saw that he had regained near-normal movement. He would require physiotherapy for five to six more months, he said. The entire procedure was covered under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme.
Dr. Sridhar along with G. Karthikeyan of the department of Hand and Reconstructive Microsurgery performed the surgery. Apart from them, Magesh and L. Parthasarathy of the Department of Anaesthesiology were part of the team.
Dr. Sridhar said that such brachial plexus injuries were common in two-wheeler accidents and need to be recognised as such properly.
